House passes stopgap bill, bolts

In Senate, fight over mine-retiree benefits risks a shutdown

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi confer Thursday. House members already have left Washington for the holiday break.
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi confer Thursday. House members already have left Washington for the holiday break.

WASHINGTON -- The House on Thursday cleared bills to keep the government running through April and authorized hundreds of water projects, but a Senate fight over benefits for retired coal miners threatened to lead to a government shutdown this weekend.

House members promptly bolted home for the holidays and will return next month to a capital city in which Republicans will fully control all levers of power, with Donald Trump inaugurated as the nation's 45th president.

The stopgap spending bill passed on a 326-96 vote; the water-projects measure passed 360-61. Arkansas' four representatives, all Republicans, backed both measures.

In the Senate, however, Democrats made a last-ditch effort to add two provisions to the bills: a one-year respite for retired coal miners scheduled to lose their health benefits at year's end, and a permanent extension of "Buy America" mandates for steel used in the construction of water projects.

"They totally gave the back of their hand to miners," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "Who's for the working people? Where's Donald Trump on miners?"

Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, both of whom face re-election in 2018, argued that a provision in the spending bill to temporarily extend health care benefits for about 16,500 retired union coal miners is insufficient.

The measure does not protect pension benefits despite President Harry S. Truman's 1946 guarantee to miners of lifetime health and retirement benefits.

"Republicans are bragging about the kind of support they have from workers in coal country, particularly retirees in coal country, and now are prepared to just extend their health care for five months," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

GOP leaders insisted the deal was the best the Democrats could get, heightening the possibility the government could close at midnight today.

"They're not going to get what they want. They ought to actually be grateful for what they got," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican.

"They gave us a bill and said 'take it or leave it,'" Manchin said.

Democrats' options were limited, especially since the House has closed up shop and won't consider changes to either bill. "We can't predict the exact path, but we're going to win this fight because we're right," vowed Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the incoming Democratic leader.

And delaying the separate water projects measure would kill $170 million long sought by Democrats to help the impoverished city of Flint, Mich., repair its aging infrastructure to rid its water of poisonous lead.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., nonetheless promised to filibuster the water-projects bill over a provision allowing more of California's limited water resources to flow to Central Valley farmers hurt by the state's lengthy drought.

Boxer and environmentalists complain that the provision favors corporate farmers over fishermen and endangered species. It appeared to be an uphill struggle, in part because her California colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, favors the changes for the distribution of the state's water resources.

The Senate did, however, clear the annual defense policy bill, which authorizes $611 billion to run the military in 2017, provides a 2.1 percent pay raise for the military and again blocks President Barack Obama from delivering on his long-standing campaign pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Thursday's vote was 92-7, with Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark, backing the measure. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., whose wife gave birth to their second child Wednesday, did not vote.

Boozman led efforts to remove a provision in the bill that would have cut housing assistance for many airmen who share a home.

For example, a Little Rock family consisting of two married service members -- a master sergeant and a technical sergeant -- and child would have lost $16,000 annually.

"The proposal to eliminate these earned benefits would be unfair for many of our men and women in uniform who rely on housing assistance to make financial ends meet," Boozman said in a statement. "I'm pleased the final bill excluded this ill-advised plan."

The spending bill passed by the House would keep the government running through April 28 and provide $10 billion in supplemental war funding and $4 billion more for disaster relief for Louisiana and other states.

In a win for Trump, the bill would speed up the confirmation process for retired Gen. James Mattis, his choice for defense secretary.

Congress needs to pass legislation to grant Mattis an exception from a law that requires a seven-year wait for former members of the military to serve in the civilian post. The provision would speed up action on the waiver, though Democrats still could filibuster it.

The underlying spending bill would buy several months for the new Congress and incoming Trump administration to wrap up more than $1 trillion worth of unfinished agency budget bills. Republicans promise an immediate infusion next year of additional money for the Pentagon.

Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Daly and Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press and by Hunter Field of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A Section on 12/09/2016

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